"when you walked in through that door, all the loneliness i knew had gone..."

(song by the greatest band in the world, the five royales. here's a link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YoEjxvklJA8)

"i felt so wonderful & strange when you walked in thru that door"

we have had the best many days in a long while. james caught up on much-needed rest at the mtn house & we got snowed in, causing us to have to miss an important appointment, but oh well! "snowed in with you," james mumbled happily from under a mountain of bedcovers. "oh, how terrible!" he was right & the day went well, but i do hope to reschedule soon... the bakersfield production of the producers we got to see was shockingly great! strong acting, excellent vocals & choreography, & the guy who played the director just killed! james said he looked like billy watson, i saw lon chaney; most importantly, the guy had the superb face to go w/his acting! we were at a dinner theatre, so got to dine w/angie, doug, mom & dad as well as see old dear family friends. the gias sent us off to oxnard next morn w/bellyful of great breakfast & other goodies. james loved the beautiful, lusciously verdant, nostalgic heritage valley & we stopped at a giant produce market at which a small man sang a sappy song in english-spanish at blasting volume & then we visited the picturesque town of fillmore before arriving at uncle jimmy's. superbowl was a washout (i'd like to read malcolm gladwell's take on what happened), but the visit was splendid & we ate like king & queen; sherry had put out quite a spread! we watched some of groundhog day in the cozy guest bedroom that night, then next morn had meditation time & went thru 78 records w/uncle jim before heading back out. we drove thru oxnard's historical district w/all its beautiful homes, had oaxacan food, delicious giant cookies, then were back on the beautiful drive along 126, stopping wherever we wanted for a thrifty's cone & some mexican salve at a tidy place called farmamex, then a wonderful garden/antique shop that meandered from train cars to little black goats to koi ponds to produce to uprooted, inverted trees that looked like something from tolkien. we then turned off & wound thru the beautiful little town of piru where a crew was filming a tv show before heading back up the mountain. this eve james rested more & the final big news has been that jamesjr was accepted to college out of state. his father & aunt are so proud, & bricks are being laid in place for the solid foundation of the young man's future. congratulations to jamesjr!
i leave you with link to more five royales songs. the band defies categorization except to say they were the greatest! the five royales, a band you should definitely know, if you don't already...
lastly, jani wisely said the other day, "there are no mistakes, only lessons." as usual, in spite of myself, i must conclude that there is much for which to be grateful. don't you think?